Dust In The Wind
by The Merrill Kid
Summary: Ever since Kathy broke up with him, Two-Bit has a lot on his mind. Who knew you had to lose something to realize how much you need it.


**Disclaimer: **I don't own _The Outsiders_, nor do I own _Dust In The Wind _by Kansas.

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**Prologue**

**Tuesday, June 8, 1965**

"Sandy, if you're not gonna to come, I'll have to tell him myself."

"Please don't, Syl, I wanna tell him myself when the time is right. Anyhow, you know that my daddy doesn't like me attending these parties," a soft voice moaned, and the girl dipped her face into her hands.

"That didn't stop you from goin' before," said a third voice. It sounded arrogant and demanding.

"Evie! You're supposed to be helping me out here." The soft voice's tone became more firm.

"I'm sorry, Sandy, but you have to tell him eventually. Unless, he isn't–"

"Hush up, Evelyn Carroll," the first voice snapped.

Jean was pretending that she wasn't listening. She gnawed on her pencil and stared at her English paper. Her eyes ghosted over the questions as if she was reading it even though she'd already perused them while the teacher had been talking. Eavesdropping wasn't something she often made an activity of, but she couldn't help finding an interest in this particular conversation. It had originally started out as details on Friday's party, but it led to something else.

That something else was not a thing she completely understood. Rather, it was something she hardly understood at all. This part of the conversation didn't interest her much because she didn't know Sandy that well, and anything that has to do with Sandy didn't interest her at all. The only reason she had been paying any attention was in hopes to find out more about the party. There was also the hope that she would be invited. The idea wasn't entirely impossible, but she knew it wasn't very likely.

Jean casted a sideways peek at the group and pushed back a few strands of curly, blonde hair that fell into her line of vision.

Sylvia folded her arms and glanced at Mr. Herman, who was correcting some test papers. "Sandy, you know what will happen if you don't come," she said in a sugar-coated voice. "I'll be forced to tell and then you would have to deal with him." She reached into her black purse and dug around before pulling out a piece of gum. She popped the pink wad into her mouth and placed the purse on her knees.

"Fine," said Sandy with finality and wrapped her arms around her middle. "I'll tell him, I promise. I'll do it when I'm ready."

Before Sylvia could reply, Mr. Herman looked up and told the three girls to pipe down. Sylvia frowned and turned to her assignment for the first time. Jean let out a small sigh and continued to do the same, as well. Five minutes later, the bell rang and she quickly stood up, picking up her homework and book bag. She smoothed the wrinkles in her dress and ushered out of the class. She was glad that her locker was close to her last period class, because if it wasn't, it would be a struggle getting to her bus on time.

Once she reached her locker, she dropped her book bag and spun the dial on her combination lock. After jerking it with a lot of force, the locker door swung open and she placed her English books on the floor before entering the locker. Out went her school bag and Jean closed the door once again with haste. As she pushed through the hectic hallway, she sifted through her bag and made sure nothing was forgotten. It was a routine thing and she hardly ever forgot a thing when it came to homework. She absolutely hated it when she brought things to school when they were passed the due date. It made an ugly mark on her progress reports and it would lead to accusations of slacking off from her parents.

She was nearly through the doorway when she realized that she did not have her copy of Crime and Punishment, the book she was intending to delve into during the summer break. She let out a frustrated groan and froze up when she heard an all too familiar voice.

"Hey, Blondie!"

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Two-Bit scanned the crowd of people with a wide grin on his face and books in his hands; books that obviously weren't his. He waved them around over his head and focused on one particular head. The one with curly blonde hair, tied into a messy ponytail with strands of hair falling out at the sides.

"Hey, Blondie!" he called out, his voice being one of the loudest in the crowd of people. It wasn't an unusual thing, but it still made a few faces turn his way. Not Blondie's. She stood there, frozen and midway through the door. "You left your books lyin' around on the floor," he said, while pulling past the people and reaching the girl. He was much taller compared to her. "You wouldn't want to leave 'em there, do you? Then again, better there than collectin' dust in the library."

Blondie slowly turned around to face him, well, to have her front facing him. She seemed to be trying to avoid his eyes and his face altogether as she kept her eyes fixed on the floor. Two-Bit waved them again as she held out her hand to regain them. However, he did not give them to her, at least not immediately. "C'mon Blondie, come and get 'em." He grinned again and pulled away when she jumped up to grab them. She wasn't quite tall enough.

"Please," she said, her voice quiet and hardly audible, as per usual. "Just pass 'em here."

"I didn't hear you," he said as she jumped up again. She placed a tiny hand on his shoulder blade for support as she attempted one last time. Lucky for him, she didn't weigh much and he didn't feel any more pain than what a heavier person would have caused. He could have gone on longer if it weren't for a new, snapping voice.

"Two-Bit," growled Evie Carroll as she made her way towards to the two of them. Her dark hair was bouncing upon her shoulders and her arching eyebrows were raised. Her heels would click against the tiled floor. "Leave her alone and give her the books."

Two-Bit debated going against her orders, but he thought twice when Evie shot him an evil glare. If Sylvia was famous for her meanness, Evie was even more famous for the meanest glares. Both eyebrows would knit together and her lips would pull back into a snarl. It was, to be frank, a little scary to watch. The girl could look at a wolf and send it running with its tail between its legs.

"Why hello, Carroll," he said, braving her wrath. "Would'ya like to join this game of keep-away? Blondie over here needs more practice; she ain't very good at it."

Evie slapped his arm with more force than needed. "Two-Bit Mathews," she snarled and it kept reminding him of a rabid wolf. He was expecting foam to come bubbling out of her mouth through those dark, painted lips. "If you don't hand me those books, I'll make your life miserable more than it already is."

Knowing very well of her capabilities, he lowered his arm a little. It wasn't enough for Blondie to jump up and retrieve them.

He swore that her nostrils flared when she pinched him and said his name again with an even more threatening tone. As if it weren't threatening already.

Deciding against bothering Evie even further, he turned to see Kathy. She was leaning against her locker with her arms folded across her chest and a pissed off expression was plastered on her face. He would never admit it, but she looked really sexy when she was mad. He returned to the two girls standing in front of him. Finally he passed the books to Blondie and she wrapped them tightly around her chest before running off. He'd never seen a girl with a face that red.

He focused his attention on Kathy and he let a casual grin spread across his face. "Hiya sexy," he said, waving at her with a two-finger salute. "What's cookin', good-lookin'?"

"You," she muttered, her light blue eyes sparked with anger. Two-Bit realized that it has been a while since he'd pissed so many girls off in one day. "I have somethin' to discuss with you." She scanned crowd before adding, "Privately."

He glanced one last time to see Evie running after Blondie and turned to find out what Kathy's problem was this time.

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**Note:**  
Big thanks to taylorjeanjn and EternalBookworm for looking this over. Reviews would be wonderful and Merry Christmas Eve to everyone!


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